The Oak Ridge Schools budget was approved last night, in what may be record time, with no last-minute changes.

When I saw WATE’s coverage, I felt as though they must have been at a different meeting — but I saw them there, heard them asking questions afterward. All I can figure is that they wrote the story ahead of time, then liked the original better than what really happened, so they stuck with the first draft.

OAK RIDGE (WATE) — The Oak Ridge School Board approved the 2009 budget worth $51 Million Thursday, but not without a fight.

What fight? There were exactly two motions in the Board meeting: one to approve travel expense statements for two members, and the other to approve the budget (which was not amended in any way last night). Both passed unanimously.

I’m glad that it is done, and happy that we plan to restore bus service to all students. I’m not at all happy that we cut ten teacher assistants, that we were unable to do more for our teachers, that we didn’t reinstate Driver Education (talk about a safety issue!), nor that our IT budget is woefully inadequate. There are still unmet needs in our schools… but this year, there’s simply no way to do all the things we want and need to do.

But, we didn’t ask City Council for more than they can provide, and we did set forward a process to provide busing for all students next year.

There is relief that we accomplished the things that we did, but no feeling of satisfaction. Because I realize that "better than some" still isn’t good enough.